Hyde Park by Night

In your mind’s eye, you see a scene from when you were residing in Hawaii. It has only been a couple of days since you, Coconut, and your brother were brought into the world of the island’s undead. Tommy was embraced by a Brujah anarch who hoped to turn the bar into meeting place for the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. In retaliation, the Toreador primogen embraced you and Coconut to ensure she had an in at her favored hunting ground.

Right now, everything is on fire. The tiki bar is nothing but a hole on a dock and scattered pieces of burning mango wood. You’ve been thrown from the bar, landing two hundred feet away and tumbling another twenty. As you get up, you hear Coconut scream.

Using your blood to heal your wounds quicker, you quickly rise to you feet and see Tommy attacking his fiancée. The whites of his eyes are blood red and he is growling like an animal. You rush to him and try to pry him off of her as he pins her down. Stronger than you, he throws you off and bites into Coconuts neck.

Enraged by your brothers inexplicable savagery, frighten by the high flames around you, and exhausted from the blood loss needed to heal yourself, you let the unfamiliar Beast inside take over. You jump on Tommy’s back, wrap your arms around him, and sink your teeth into the back of his neck.

Howling in pain, Tommy rises up, twists wildly to get you off him, and even claws at your legs. You don’t let go. Unaware of his environment, he walks of the dock and plunges both of you into the dark water.

From Coconuts perspective, at least five minutes go by until she sees you climb back onto the dock… without Tommy.

This memory recedes from the forefront of your mind as you open your eyes. You are in an empty space, totally dark except for some shifting shades of reds and purples. Much like when you close your eyes._

And your brother Tommy is standing in front of you, seemingly on nothing.

Tiki Tommy: Hozit brah? Not exactly what you remember, yeah?

Maui Pete: Who the fuck are you? Tommy would never hurt Coconut. And I will not let you hurt her. Where is she?

Tiki Tommy: Brah, I know we both went a bit lolo (crazy) back then. It was the Beast. No need to go lolo now.

He pauses for a moment.

Tiki Tommy: Though it’s refreshing to see you all moke (tough). So if you don’t wanna talk story (reminisce)…

He pounds his fists together and smiles.

Tiki Tommy: Like beef? (You wanna fight?)

Maui Pete: get ready to catch cracks (get beaten up) brah.

Pete lunges forward and tackles Tiki Tommy using Potence. He slams Tommy on the ground and pins him there using his body weight, then waits to see Tommy’s reaction.

Tommy spits out a little blood as he gets up from what looks like an indent in the dark nothingness.

Tommy: (Speaking with a bruised and split lip from Pete’s attack) I’m not here. You know that. I’m dead. Think about about it! We’re using recent slang. I died in 41!

He smiles, causing blood to spill from his mouth.

Tommy: I’m you telling you to MAN UP!

Tommy uses Celerity to quickly uppercut Pete.

Tommy: Those wahines (girls) in your life. Jane. Evelyn. Coconut. They’re in danger and you gotta act less like a depressed bar drunk and more like what’s in your blood!

He wipes the blood off his split lip with his sleeve.

Tommy: You have to utterly destroy those who threaten those close to you. Destroy body and soul.

Pete Maui backs up with his arms down in a non-threatening manner and responds in a somber tone

Maui Pete: I know you’re dead, braddah. I think about that all the time. And I know the sistahs are in danger. But I don’t know where it lays. Can you give me some kokau (help) finding it?

The apparition of Tiki Tommy shakes his head as if waking up from sleep and then appears without blood or bruises.

Tommy: The problem isn’t finding it. The problem is that it’s coming after your people. It’s at the doorstep and the door ain’t locked. I just want you to make sure you can let loose enough to deal with it with everything at your ability.

He suddenly bares his fang and the whites of his eyes go blood red.

Tommy: I need you to stop thinking about me. To stop thinking about December 7th. Accept what happened and stop feeling guilty every time you look at Coconut!

Maui Pete: Fair enough, bruddah. I know you aren’t real, but I take what you are saying to heart. I will be ready for whatever is coming after us. I will tear it apart like a luau pig.

Tiki Tommy smiles and begins to disappear. Simultaneously, the world appears to dim.

Tommy: Grind (consume) the dinuguan (blood).

Just as he and the world are about to fade away, the sound of a ukulele rendition of Bad Moon Rising can be heard in the far distance.

In her mind’s eye, ‘Jane’ sees a scene from when she was living in Paris: running through alleys, injured and low on blood. Something is chasing her, shrouded in shadows. Something big, at least eight feet tall. Seeing her destination, she sprints to a four story classical building labeled Sûreté Nationale. The creature follows, jumping through a window. A commotion is heard and suddenly smoke can be seen.

As this memory recedes from the forefront of her mind, she opens her eyes. It is an empty space, totally dark except for some shifting shades of reds and purples. Much like when you close your eyes.

Standing in front of her, seemingly standing on nothing, is a young man in a period apropos police uniform. His back is turned until he spins on his heel and gives you a French military salute with a sarcastic smile. It is Gaëtan de Freycinet

“Bonjour, little monster! The years seem to have treated you well. You haven’t aged a day.”

Deeply disturbed by this dream visitation, she plays cool. “Bonjour.” This may be her dream but there is no reason to think she is in control or safe. The plan is to wait and placate until able to wake…

Gaëtan says, “You really should remember those you’ve killed. And been hunted by, as they are often the same.” The Frenchmen raises one eye brow inquisitively. “J’accuse. You… don’t remember me do you. I am insulted.” Convulsing for an instant. The man’s body expands, growing taller, gaining muscle mass, and changing shape.

He shrugs slowly and then speaks. “I’m dead. I don’t really want anything anymore. A few hundred years as a shade will do that to you. Makes it hard to feel anything other than what you routinely felt in life.” He shifts his weight onto his back paw and smiles slightly. “I only felt burned alive once but neither that pain or revenge were routine. You’re safe.”

He pulls his legs under him and falls into a cross-legged siting position. “I’m just here to offer you a warning and a gift from some gros bonnet spirit named Hegla or Hegar or something.” He leans forward a bit. “Which do you want first? The warning or the gift?”

Changing her stance not at all, ‘Jane’ replies without enthusiasm or trepidation, “The warning.”

“You are about to be hunted again. By something new. Something much more powerful and dedicated anything else that has ever come after you. Aaaaaaand… fire ain’t going to hurt her.” He laughs a little. “And now the gift…”

Gaëtan snaps his fingers and Jane feels a sharp pain in her head as knowledge of the thaumaturgic discipline The Lure of Flames rushes into her mind. “That Hargur spirit has a crazy sense of humor.”

‘Jane’ winces at the sudden pain in her head, begins to slowly back away from Gaëtan, and says, “I am warned. Bonjour, spirit.” She expects the spirit to leave but her posture and tone are still defensive…

Gaëtan bows and starts to fade away as the world seems to start dimming to total darkness.

His voice fades as he delivers his parting words. “I would wake up now, little one. I think I smell smoke.”

In your mind’s eye, you see a scene from when you were six years old and your father, Menno Carrington, was teaching you how to ride a bike. You’re at Millennium Park, closer to the southern part near the museums. And you’re doing it. Wheels turn and you are moving forward, wind in your meticulously brushed hair. In a moment of awe, you take your hands off the handles. Tumbling to the ground, you feel a sharp pain. You get up, your rushing father to your side, and notice that your finger is bleeding.

You move to put your finger in your mouth, by instinct, but stop short. You remind yourself that you’re not a baby anymore. You don’t suck your thumb or just stick things in your mouth.

As this memory receded from the forefront of your mind, you open your eyes. You are in an empty space, totally dark except for some shifting shades of reds and purples. Much like when you close your eyes.

Your dead father is standing in front of you.

Menno: Seems like a lifetime long ago, doesn’t it. Now look at you, all adult-like. And dead. But, you know, mostly adult.

Evelyn is in disbelief but, after everything she’s seen, she tries to adjust her mind as quickly as possible. She decides accept that this is definitely somehow her father and not a trick.

Evelyn: Dad?! I miss you… I’m scared but I don’t know what to do.

Speaking quickly, she gives a very short explanation of waking up at the hospital and hanging out with Maui Pete and Jane. There’re people who want to kill us and I don’t think I can hide from them.

Menno walks closer to Evelyn as she recounts her troubles and gently hugs her as she finishes talking.

Menno: It’s okay, sweetie. I know it’s bad and you gotta survive. But I don’t think you understand the real danger of your situation.

He looks away slightly as what he is about to say is painful for him to make vocal

Menno: I know it’s been busy since your mother and I died. And you haven’t had time to mourn or even think of what’s happened to you.

He sobs quietly and only once before regaining his composure.

Menno: My daughter, you don’t have a soul anymore.

Evelyn is silent for a few moments. She knows that what her father says is bad, but she feels nothing. Her only concern is to comfort him, to see him stop crying. She shakes her head, a thin, tight smile on her lips. His eyes meet hers and she recognizes his confusion at her expression.

Evelyn: Dad… I don’t care about that… at this point, I don’t think there’s anything I can do but try to stay alive. Please don’t be mad at me. I don’t want to live like this… but these people… they are the only ones I think I can trust right now. I want to stay alive. I don’t want you feel sad. I’ll be ok. You and mom, you raised me well, you know?

Menno’s face goes white and he get a serious look on his face as he looks Evelyn straight in the eyes.

Menno: We did raise you well. Which is why I want you to care. Even if it gets hard. Even when it gets scary. And believe me, Evey… it’s about to get very scary.

He smiles slightly.

Menno: A monster is coming after you. It looks human but it is a monster on the inside. I do not want you to end up like that.

He pauses for a moment.

Menno: And that goes for the other you too. Both you and Carnifex already have everything you need to save your souls.

Evelyn frowns. Other you?, she thinks… but the word ‘monster’ snaps her attention back to her father’s face.

Evelyn: A human monster? Ok, Dad, I promise I’ll be careful, but- wait, did you say I can save my soul? Does that mean there’s a way I can… be with you and mom someday? And what do you mean, ‘the other you’?

She takes a few steps toward her father. She doesn’t recognize the place they’re in as anywhere and is starting to feel fear. Is this really Dad?, she wonders as she scrutinizes his face. She see the tears still staining his cheeks, the crow’s feet wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, and general look of tiredness on his face. She reaches out to hold his hand, and believes that it is truly him.

Menno reaches out and takes his daughter hand. As he does so, a glowing sigil appears as they meet.

(Evelyn gains five dots in the discipline Bardo)

He slowly starts stepping forward, wanting to walk a bit with his daughter in this elsewhere dream land.

Menno: When the first vampire was cursed, he was told that he could escape his fate by taming the Beast inside him. He failed but, you know…

Evelyn’s father smiles widely.

Menno: He wasn’t raised as well as you.

Evelyn looks up at her father, wanting to ask a hundred questions but not knowing where to begin. She savors the sensation of holding his hand- it does not feel cold and dead, yet it does not feel as warm and soft as if he were real…

Evelyn: What do I have to do, Dad? Besides run away, or… fight something? Am I supposed to find someone, or can I trust the people I’m living with? I haven’t known them that long… but I like them. I would like to help them too. Is that ok?

Menno: Pete’s okay. He still mourns for the life he lost. now Jane… she’s a monster. But a monster you should keep close. A monster that can protect you.

He sighs loudly and slowly.

Menno: As for meeting me and your mother… your soul. That you’re going to have to figure out on your own, Evey. It’s different for everyone. Heck, it took me and your mother hundreds of years to figure it out for ourselves.

Evelyn unconsciously stops walking as she hears her father’s words. She does not look at him, instead she stares at her feet that feel nothing below, and considers his statement.

Evelyn: How have.. you and mom had hundreds of years for… Dad, are you like me? Are we humans?
She feels fear and confusion cloud her mind. What else don’t I know? How could her father not tell her something like this when he was alive? Certainly she was old enough. Certainly her parents were good people, they had to have been, but they’d never kept secrets from her. No matter which way she considered her situation, she was damned. She could give up, surrender herself to this imminent monster… or she could make her father proud and fight to the death if need be. The harder choice.
If there’s even a small chance I can fix things for myself, I have to try. If mom and dad are somehow still watching me… there’s more to our lives than I thought. It’s worth it to try. I have to try… even if I come from something… unnatural.

She meets her father’s eyes, exhaling as she wonders what else she doesn’t know.

Menno turns around and faces his daughter.

Menno: Oh, you were most certainly human. To have a child like you, that’s what drove us to regain our souls and become human again for a short while. To give you a normal, wonderful life.

He laughs slightly.

Menno: Though, apparently the universe isn’t that kind. Or maybe it just has an odd sense of humor.

As Menno finishes his comment, the air seems to fill with smoke.

Menno: For a little more time… I think you’re going to have to wake up soon, sweet pea. And you’re going to have to start running.

Evelyn reaches for Menno, but realizes he can no longer see her. She watches his image dissipate, feeling the urge to cry. No tears come, only the sensation of a vast emptiness inside her. She watches color swirl around her as the name Carnifex echoes in her mind.